Week 10 - Stephanie Bernardini - Obsession

Welcome to my last blog post! I am excited to be almost done with this quarter! 

This past Thanksgiving weekend, my dad and I decided to put up the Christmas decorations early! The image of my humble home full of Christmas cheer is attached above! Anyways, I love Christmas time because of all the pretty lights. I am OBSESSED with how a bunch of simple strings of lights can really bring your house to life. Furthermore, I love using my designer skills around the holidays since they really do come in handy! One of my favorite things to do around the holidays is drive around and looking at all the pretty lights in the richer neighborhoods! I seriously believe that you can never have too many Christmas decorations. My neighborhood is lame though and almost no one decorates on our street, but at least my home looks the best! I think Christmas lights have helped contributed to my obsession with lighting as I have been helping put them up with my dad since I could walk. So I always have a special appreciation for the simple strings of Christmas lights. I hope you all like the Christmas decor at my house!

Also, yes, all the lights do work (even though it appears that some of them are off!) I am assuming it is because the rate of my camera did not match the flashing rate of the LEDs! 

Tanks!!! It has been fun!

week 8 - jacob nguyen - site specific blog

 Mornin. Wilder and I went to Downtown Disney the other day. It was fun. We took lots of pics. It was a good break from rehearsal.

One of the stores I particularly enjoyed was the Lego Store. This one felt very open and brightly lit with a higher color temperature. Most of the other stores that were this bright and cool didn’t’ have the same appeal to me. The reason I think it works for this store is because the yellow bounces back so much and makes the store feel very lively and playful. I haven’t really thought of how architecture would affect architectural lighting before.

The Sprinkles store was sort of a let down. It was the exact opposite of lights to be bright. There was no sugary lust. It felt like the store was closed when I first saw it. It makes sense why the place was nearly empty inside. I would imagine a candy store like this to be more lively and open. Even the name of the store would suggest a colorful array of sprinkles dotting the entrance, luring customers in. It also did not help that the surrounding stores had very bright exteriors.

The Salt and Straw was definitely my favorite. The repeating texture on the wall felt very familiar as either a waffle cone or a pattern on an old cozy house. It was bright and really drew people in. The fixtures on top were shaped like ice cream cones were a very nice touch. The entire store was very cohesive and made sense everywhere. 

Week 8 - Michael Diaz - Site Specific Blog

 

     I was able to go to the Irvine Spectrum today with two of my friends and walk around. We had a good time going out and taking pictures. It was cool that I went to it with the a critical eye as a lighting designer. I had fun critiquing stores as we walked around about the lighting and how it came off as. Below I have included several picture that demonstrate the environment of the Spectrum as a whole. Since the Christmas Christmas lights are up, I couldn't help but include images of the Christmas lit buildings. Enjoy:

     I felt that the lighting designers were trying to blend some Christmas elements into the modern, villaesque vibe of the spectrum. I felt that the little bits of thing they added, enhanced the setting and ambiance of the place a little more. I still think more things could've been included. Not necessarily lighting wise, but decor wise. It seemed a little bare for Christmas. It is late November so I'm wondering if they may add a little more Christmas things later on. I think they definitely wanted to give the touch of Christmas, while still acknowledging the modern elements. If that was the case, then they succeeded!

As for the shops there were quite a few good lighting one and a lot of others with horrible lighting. Below I have included of my favorite one and the one I disliked most.

     Junie Grey was the store that caught my eye, and the one I felt was very successful with their lighting design of it. The lighting of it was very calming and to some extent, it was dimmed. The light had a hint of warmness in it, as it was not harsh cold florescent lighting. Since this was sort of like a boutique shop, I felt that they did a great job balancing how lit it was in there so the product was still visible, but not too over exposed. I feel that it's tricky with places like this as you wanna provide lighting so that customers can see what they are buying, but you also want your lighting to be welcoming. This light gave the right vibes of what this shop was selling and the things in it complemented it very well. I must include that I loves the minimalistic look the lights were giving in this space. It truly made all the pieces in the racks stand out. 

     Foot locker was the lighting I vibed with the least. While I love this store, because of the shoes it sell. It is unecessarily to bright in there. I understand that seeing the shoe iu important, but I don't think that much light is needed in a shoes store. There is so much fluorescent litting in there that can come off as to exposed. I'm glad footlocker is a well known store and people go into it despite of the lighting, I feel that Footlocker corporations should invest in a new lighting look for their stores. The huge fluorescent lights are genuinely not it for me. They make the store look quite tacky and super bright.

     Overall, I had such a great time putting this blog together. I loved how it made go out the Irvine spectrum and take a moment and become analytical about lighting. Overall, I had a great experience with my friends who joined me too. Good time!

Week 8 - Site Specific Blog - Kevin Aguilar

 

Howdy! So for this week's blog, I picked Downtown Disney! I was in shock the entire time seeing how drastically different it is nowadays, RIP the Build-a-Bear that is now a burger spot. 

Anyways! Getting back to the topic I have picked two stores to focus on. The first is World of Disney, My first impression was again "wow this place is so much different" the overall interior remains practically the same but the ambient lighting has been updated. I love the inclusion of the Christmas lights! they add dynamic to the lighting. Mind you I took these pictures 2 weeks ago and the Christmas lights were already set up. The entire time I was in the store I felt very welcomed. I think the overall goal for the designer was to advertise the products being sold due to how well-lit the products are. So well-lit that I ended up buying a stuffed animal of Nala for my puppy the way the product was lit automatically sold me. There are even spotlights for each model in the store. The overall theme of the store is well… a merchandise store for various Disney characters and franchises and I think the lighting helps with the goal of making this the “ultimate Disney shopping experience."

For the 2nd store I picked Sprinkles, I thought overall the lighting was pretty flat and boring and doesn’t really attract many people other than those who genuinely love Sprinkles cupcakes. I went on a Thursday night and downtown Disney was busy but this particular store (and a few others) were empty. Compared to World of Disney I did not feel anything walking into Sprinkles. The only thing the Sprinkles has going for it is the neon light sign which is cool but seems to not be enough to attract people. The overall goal here is well… selling cupcakes! Does it achieve this? Well yes but on a very basic level unlike the other stores here. The lighting does not tell me a story but does tell me “hey we're a Sprinkles but in downtown Disney!” 

Week 8- Site Specific Blog- Citlalli

 

For this week's blog post I visited Downtown Disney. I think the walk designers were trying to create a relaxing environment. There are a lot of fountains throughout the walk and the sound of running water tends to soothe people. The fountains themselves had really cool designs and there was light aimed at wherever there was water running. I do want to mention that I think the walk was mainly designed to look attractive and inviting from the parks into the walk, rather than coming in from the Disney Walk parking. The lighting of the trees with fairy lights, as shown above, really makes me feel as if we're going into a fairy world. I like the lighting on the trees because it broadens up the environment. I feel that if they weren't lit there would be a lot more emptiness and the magical feel of the walk wouldn't really be there.

One of my favorite stores has to be the Icecream shop. At first, I was drawn to it because of the smell, it smelled so delicious and heavenly. Once I turned to see where the smell was coming from I saw this store. I do have to mention that at first glance this doesn't really look like an ice cream shop, but paying closer attention to detail, I thought it was a pretty cool design. I think the use of patterns for wallpaper really draws me in. I also like the fact that the door handles are ice cream cones. My favorite part of the design, however, was the ice cream cone-shaped lights hanging above the customer line. They gave off a pretty cool white which was then balanced out by warm whites from the other lights in the store. This combination of light, shapes, and smells really made the environment really inviting.

The World of Disney store was very bright, visible, and beautiful with the Christmas lights and decorations hung around. However, I think what killed it for me was the use of green lights on the ceiling. I understand that the designers were using green and red for Christmas, however, when first walking in all you can see is the green, so it looks out of place and not really Christmasy. I think the use of blues might have been a better option for the sealing. Because although blue is just more to signify winter, I feel it would have balanced out well with the many Christmas decorations this store already has.

Week 8 - Aria Roach - Site-Specific Blog

    For this week's blog, I visited the Irvine Spectrum. I have been here a good amount of times, but I've never really tried to look at the design of the Spectrum from a lighting perspective or even as a cohesive unit. I think that there are many elements of the mall that fit together, such as the greenery or color of the buildings, but there are also many pieces that feel disjointed from the rest. When I went, the Christmas decorations were in full-swing, so that added another interesting design element to observe. 

    Due to my work schedule, I was unable to visit the Spectrum at night, so most of the lighting elements (save for a few shops) were affected largely by sunlight. However, I thought it might be an interesting take to critique how these crowd-favorite attractions looked in the daylight. The images above showcase some of the family-friendly rides/play areas of the mall. The carousel, jungle gym, and ferris wheel are all located pretty close to one another on the Target-side of the shopping areas (the best way I can think of describing what direction they are in). I think of these three, the carousel is my favorite. With the line of Christmas garland at the top, and the lights shining brightly even in the daytime, this attraction really brought my eye to it. The jungle gym is very cute (there were a lot of families and kids around it) but I didn't care for the colors at all. They seemed to fit within the color palette of some of the surrounding architecture, but the green and yellow didn't really do it for me. Lastly, the ferris wheel was really cool to look at due to its sheer size, and each little car/seat was really cute. I've seen this attraction at night many times, and the daytime look really can't compare. I with there was something more to look at with this site, perhaps a few lights blinking or more dynamic colors, but it kind of fell flat for me at this time. 

    It's a little hard to tell from this picture because of the sunlight, but I absolutely loved this shop, called Lip Lab. The lighting came mostly from these spherical orbs hanging from the ceiling and a large, circular light above the seating. I loved the style of this shop, because it felt like a 70's or 80's style pop artist kind of vibe. In the back, there are these large mirrors that reflect that natural sunlight around the room and have huge, colorful glass spheres in front of them full of (what I am assuming are) different kinds of lip gloss. It seems really fun and inviting, and the focus on rounded shapes throughout brought a lot of cohesiveness in my opinion. In addition, the neon lip lights in the windows drew my attention; I would love to see what this shop looks like at night. 

    This was a pop-up shop that I'm assuming Santa comes to for kids to get their picture taken with, but I really hated the god-awful green color and weird snowman in the front. It felt like they were trying to give a kind of "surfer" vibe to Christmas, but I think it stands out like a sore thumb. I saw no lighting elements that would help it, even at night, and it really just felt out of place for me as a whole. I am assuming that the pictures are taken inside, but I can't imagine it is any better. It was closed when I went, but it would have been interesting to see how they decorated it. 

Week 8- Wilder Windeler- Site Specific Blog

 For this week's blog I went to Downtown Disney with Jacob. While I personally think it's too early for Christmas décor to be set up, I expected there to be quite a bit there at Downtown Disney. However, it felt like there was a lack of that and the Christmas decorations that were set up felt like things were placed for the sake of being put out and not with much thought for where it should go. In fact the image below is from World of Disney and it felt like there was more holiday spirit in the store than out on the paths.

One of my favorite places I saw was this bar. As soon as I saw it, I wanted to sit down and have a drink there and I don't even like alcohol much. The lights hanging down from the umbrellas felt inviting and different compared to everything else around it that felt more modern. The lighting at the bar itself was also inviting and soft so you won't be blinded by anything while sitting at it. I'm partial to outside evening dining because when it's done right it can feel really welcoming to people wanting to go for food/drinks.

Something that I think fell flat for me was this atrocity of lighting and architecture. The massive door frame compared to the tiny door make everything about it feel small and tight. The tiny sign being offset also made me not even notice that it was a store until I saw someone walk out of it. When I looked inside of the store the lighting inside also felt harsh and even made the interior feel smaller and tight.

Overall, when looking at Downtown Disney from a lighting perspective and layout perspective, I felt underwhelmed and like things didn't fit together. 

Week 8 - Stephanie Bernardini - Site Specific Blog

This blog post is my favorite by far because who doesn’t love a good excuse to go to Downtown Disney? Overall Downtown Disney is one of my favorite outdoor shopping destinations and not just for the Disney-themed items but for the great food, and inviting atmosphere. While visiting Downtown Disney with a hyper-lighting design-focused brain, I noticed that even though everything is themed, nothing is particularly over-themed. Nothing is extremely overpowering to the senses and I noticed a lot of warmer tones used to accomplish this. 

I would also like to share that Downtown Disney was incredibly hectic when I went and it was SO crowded (but what's new) so it was really hard getting good pictures.

Anyways, I went to Downtown Disney with Jordan and we went to our favorite food place there, Black Tap. We recently made the decision to try this place a few visits ago and the slick modern design of the restaurant definitely aided in this decision. The picture with the several hanging fixtures over a bar top is a picture I took while eating my fried pickles inside Black Tap. The dim atmosphere, modern fixtures, and subtle hints of neon make this place such a vibe. The design of this store is a definite success as it gives a modern yet retro vibe. 

I think the biggest flop of Downtown Disney is the restaurant pictured in my first image. Jordan and I have debated trying this place several times but the overpriced food for a boring atmosphere doesn’t feel right. For one, you sit at tables similar to the ones at every picnic area around Disneyland park, yet you eat expensive food. And I get the need for visibility and the fact that it is in the center of a major path so there is lots of light, but still… where’s the flavor. Not only that but for a restaurant the lighting and atmosphere are pretty lame for DISNEY… this is just a no for me. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE DISNEY!

I also put in that tree image cause Disney always has stunning landscaping and they also light them in such elegant ways, and I loved the subtle Christmas flare to this tree. 

Anyways we had a lot of fun and spent $150 on legos so that was cool. 

 

Week 6 - Stephanie Bernardini - Passion

 

Life has been a little crazy so I am fashionably late with this blog post…sorry! But for

this blog post, I decided to share this image I took of the leaves at Romeo and Juliet to

send to the stage manager for reference. It feels like I accidentally took a really nice

picture featuring some of JQ’s wonderful lighting design!

I became obsessed with lighting design by being continuously inspired by the designers

around me. In high school, we would bring in various professional designers from the

industry to come to design our shows and they would also teach, those interested in

lighting, during the process. Seeing some of the amazing looks that they were able to

create on the stage and the way some of them designed with color was just so amazing.

My passion… or desire per se to learn how to create such amazing looks grew from this

and I have been determined to continuously become a better artist. My peers

continuously inspire me with their work and often bring in different ideas and perspectives

providing me with a broad range of artistry. Yay for team lighting!

Week 6 - Passion - Kevin Aguilar

 Howdy! So when it comes to passion, I seem to have a lot. Writing them all down would be the equivalent of writing a whole novel. I just can't help it, I love to learn new things all the time because I'm just extremely versatile! But to narrow down my passions for this assignment, one thing I'm most passionate about is my creative writing, I've always been good at it and have only continued to improve in the last couple of years. Now to add some context to the image above, the reason I took this picture of Burbank is that well on top of the fact that I love looking at night skies, the stars, how beautiful the moon was that night, and the lighting overall, this lighting and view is a reminder to me that this is the type of scenery I'm striving to have once I move into a fancy apartment in Burbank or even downtown LA after my screenwriting career takes off. I'd imagine that this is the type of scenery I'll be seeing after I'm just getting home to the said apartment after a long day on set. It's a reminder that what I'm most passionate about is what's going to get me there. The lighting composition in this view is a reminder to me that there's lots of opportunity out there in the city. The city lights give me a sense of direction of "this is where you want to be." My dreams of working in Burbank might even be coming true soon if I am lucky enough to hear back from the internships at Warner Bros and HBO that I applied to recently. But until then I'll just continue to cherish the beautiful night skies, moonlight, and city lights from a distance. 

Week 6 - Aria Roach - Passion

 

        For me, Passion is hard word to pinpoint into one specific area of my life. I have a large amount of interests and hobbies that have become passions, and I am constantly trying to balance all of them in a way that fulfills me. Lighting is quickly becoming a stronger interest of mine the more I am exposed to its creativity in congruence with my passion for theatre and drama. In this way, I am finding more enthusiasm for it in other parts of my daily life. 

      To call any of venture of mine a true passion, I have to find a real emotional connection to it. The picture above, although not very clear, is an example of an aspect of light/lighting where I find emotion. This is a viewpoint in Turtle Rock that a few friends and I discovered recently, and the beautiful city lights struck us all when we found it. There is something so special about being able to see a city (or cities) from afar at night; the synthetic lights seem so stunning when you can see them all from a distance. The glow of the overcast sky from the lights below is also a stunning effect because it almost feels like the time of day is not as late as it is; it creates this feeling almost of reflected sunlight on the clouds above. As I am finding more passion for lighting, I am experiencing more of its emotional impact around me.  

Week 6 - Michael Diaz - Passion

 

     This is an image captured by me from the third floor on the CAC building on Campus. I believe I took this picture about two weeks ago or so. As I was heading to the elevator to evacuate the building, I came across this beautiful sunset. It was so breathtaking that I could not help but take a picture of it and take some selfies and have a golden hour moment. I admit this particular image got me thinking about the moment in life I am in now. It's crazy that at the moment I was on campus (arts campus for more specificity), surrounded by this gorgeous sky, and doing what I love most. Yes I may be exhausted, worn out, and stressed but I'm doing what I love. It's these little moments that allow me to appreciate my efforts and acknowledge my passion for what I'm doing. I have the amazing opportunity to wake up everyday and be a student absoring the most I can to become a professional in the different points of study I have taken up. Like wow! I'm doing what I'm most passionate about right now. This image captures a moment of appreciation and passion that help me celebrate all I've done at my short time here at UCI. 

     With that the colors of this image are just immaculate. It was one of the prettiest sunsets I have experience here. The contrasting colors blue and orange created a cool effect on the sky. I also love seeing the couple beams of light escaping the focus of the camera creating a very laidback feel to the sky. I loved how the black silhouette of the trees created really nice levels to the height of the sky. Its interesting to me how intense, the natural orange light was able to light the clouds and make a change in what I saw. The sun almost looks like fire. Not to mention the speed at which this sunset went down was quick. Capturing a moment like this can be a bit overwhelming making sure that you get the sun in the right position. Even that shows the amount of passion I have to be where I am, doing what I'm passionate about. 

Week 6- Citlalli Mora- Passion

When I initially saw the prompt for this week, I immediately thought of music. Mainly because I'm very passionate about dance, so when music, lighting, and dance are all put together, It feels as if all the puzzle pieces have been put together. However, I wasn't sure what image I could possibly use for this blog, up until a couple nights ago. My mom put up some tangled-up lights and the patterns it made on the wall reminded me of tree branches, neuron connections in the brain, as well as a visual representation of passion. In particular, my passion stems from a lot of distinct areas yet all of those areas support one another, the more connection and support there is the bigger the passion.

Week 6- Wilder Windeler- Passion

 

I went back home to SF for a short period this weekend for a friend's birthday so I ended up staying with my dad. This photo is of a light we've had since I was a kid which is just pure red. Since the floors are also red and the walls are getting repainted leaving them a off white color for now it creates this pure red room. Red is viewed as a color for passion so I immediately knew I had to take the opportunity to capture it for this week's blog post. As someone who is a Star Wars nerd, the passion I defined with this photo is not like passion for a hobby but that feeling of overwhelming, saturated passion that represents the dark side in star wars. I've also been digesting a lot of star wars media recently so it's stuck in my head. I personally just really liked that deep red that engulfed the entire room when the light gets turned on, especially when it's dark outside so no external light is present.